536: The Dim Sun, the Nameless Volcano, and a Winter Turned into an Apocalypse
In the spring of 536 CE, Procopius was recording the wars of Emperor Justinian when he stopped to describe the sky. He wrote that the Sun still rose but shone like the Moon, as if an eclipse had lasted through the entire year. In the eastern Mediterranean, John of Ephesus wrote that the darkness continued for eighteen months: only about four hours of weak light remained each day, fruit failed to ripen, and wine turned sour.
In the spring of 536 CE, Procopius was recording the wars of Emperor Justinian when he stopped to describe the sky. He wrote that the Sun still rose but shone like the Moon, as if an eclipse had lasted through the entire year. In the eastern Mediterranean, John of Ephesus wrote that the darkness continued for eighteen months: only about four hours of weak light remained each day, fruit failed to ripen, and wine turned sour. These are the words of people who saw a real change in the sky, not a myth invented centuries later.
In the spring of 536 CE, Procopius was recording the wars of Emperor Justinian when he stopped to describe the sky. He wrote that the Sun still rose but shone like the Moon, as if an eclipse had lasted through the entire year. In the eastern Mediterranean, John of Ephesus wrote that the darkness continued for eighteen months: only about four hours of weak light remained each day, fruit failed to ripen, and wine turned sour.
In the spring of 536 CE, Procopius was recording the wars of Emperor Justinian when he stopped to describe the sky. He wrote that the Sun still rose but shone like the Moon, as if an eclipse had lasted through the entire year. In the eastern Mediterranean, John of Ephesus wrote that the darkness continued for eighteen months: only about four hours of weak light remained each day, fruit failed to ripen, and wine turned sour.
In the spring of 536 CE, Procopius was recording the wars of Emperor Justinian when he stopped to describe the sky. He wrote that the Sun still rose but shone like the Moon, as if an eclipse had lasted through the entire year. In the eastern Mediterranean, John of Ephesus wrote that the darkness continued for eighteen months: only about four hours of weak light remained each day, fruit failed to ripen, and wine turned sour.
In the spring of 536 CE, Procopius was recording the wars of Emperor Justinian when he stopped to describe the sky. He wrote that the Sun still rose but shone like the Moon, as if an eclipse had lasted through the entire year. In the eastern Mediterranean, John of Ephesus wrote that the darkness continued for eighteen months: only about four hours of weak light remained each day, fruit failed to ripen, and wine turned sour.